IKK 2026: Panel 5 "Mergers – from market leaders to market shapers: innovation vs. foreclosure"

Panel V: Mergers – from market leaders to market shapers: innovation vs. foreclosure Moderator Ingrid Vandenborre, Partner, Antitrust & Competition, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, Brussels Panellists Ingo Brinker, Partner, White & Case LLP, Chairman of the Association for the Study of Antitrust Law, Düsseldorf Eiji Chatani, Chair, Japan Fair Trade Commission, Tokyo Elisabetta Iossa, Commissioner, Italian Competition Authority, Rome James A. Keyte, Partner, Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, New York Tommaso Valletti, Professor of Economics, Imperial College Business School, London Discussion Merger assessment often sits at the crossroads of innovation and foreclosure. After years of global convergence towards stricter rules, a shift in thinking is emerging: Should merger control continue to focus on preventing overly powerful market positions and harm to consumers or should it allow more room for broader industrial and political objectives? As debates on European champions and new guidelines unfold, competition authorities are faced with the ongoing challenge of showing how competition can drive innovation and growth.